Published 11:44 am, Sunday, September 15, 2013

NEW HAVEN >> A Hamden man falsely reported that carjackers took his BMW as his friend slept in the back seat in order to cover-up a crash, leaving his seriously injured friend unattended for four hours, said police spokesman David Hartman.

Hartman said Noel Garcia, 22, of Carew Road in Hamden will face a charge from New Haven police of falsely reporting an incident and likely several charges from Hamden police who are investigating the accident.

Police detectives investigating the reported carjacking found the crashed car on Mather Street in Hamden through a cell phone signal, Hartman said. The silver car had crashed into bushes down a 50-69 foot embankment and was covered in brush, making the scene difficult to spot from the road, Hartman said.

One of the most disturbing aspects of the case, Hartman said, is that Garcia and a few friends showed up at the accident scene hours after it happened at the time police located the car and their attitude was poor considering the passenger had been left with injuries for hours. The victim had to be extricated from the vehicle to be taken to the hospital, Hartman said. His injuries are not life-threatening.

Garcia originally showed up in New Haven with his mother to report a “carjacking” told officers he’d been approached by three to four black men, one of them admiring his car. He told them he was punched in the face and dragged from the vehicle, before the men took off in his car, northbound on Church Street.

Garcia told officers the incident had occurred more than an hour earlier and that his friend, 21, was asleep in the back seat when the perpetrators made off with the car, Hartman said.

In reality, he left his friend with serious injuries and likely made up the carjacking story in hopes that police would think the carjackers crashed the car, Hartman said. The injured friend spent four hours in the car without medical attention.

Garcia, who remains at large, is expected to be arrested on warrants from New Haven and Hamden police, Hartman said.